Boxed lunch

I invited my friends Brett and Jared to have lunch with me at Box Eatery on a recent weekend. The place is a little hard to find if you aren’t familiar with the area because it is tucked into a corner of a strip mall on King’s Row. Inside, it’s small, clean, welcoming and Irish. The walls are painted orange, green and white, and there’s Guinness paraphernalia everywhere. We were excited that maybe we could get some Guinness but sadly, they’re still awaiting their liquor license. Besides the Guinness stuff, there are also photographs taken by a local artist. The setup is more for takeout, but the space is comfortable enough that you can easily enjoy a meal there.

The majority of the space is occupied by the kitchen area, which has a huge flat oven. One of the friendly staff members working at the counter explained they’re considering baking their own bread, but in the meantime, they get all of their bread locally. Box Eatery offers soups, sandwiches and salads along with quiches and casseroles. All of the soups are made from scratch and usually they have about five varieties to choose from, but when we were there on a Saturday, there were only two soups to choose from, tomato bisque and chicken enchilada.

I decided to go with one of the daily specials, which was vegetable lasagna ($6). My lasagna, like all dishes served, arrived in a box, hence the name Box Eatery. Inside was a large square of lasagna accompanied by a side of spinach, tomatoes and balsamic and some sliced foccacia bread. The sauce on the lasagna was thick, and there was a ton of cheese and spinach. I liked the lasagna, but it seemed like it might have been cooked earlier, then reheated, because it wasn’t quite warm enough for my liking. I wished the foccacia bread had been heated up as well.

Brett went with the bowl of soup and half sandwich combo ($7). His roasted turkey sandwich arrived on foccacia, and eyeing the sandwich, I was a little jealous I didn’t order one. The half sandwich was enormous. In addition to the turkey, the sandwich also came with provolone, prosciutto and spicy aioli along with fresh tasting veggies. I liked the sandwich, but I loved the tomato bisque. The bisque was rich and creamy, and had this been my order, I would have dipped my sandwich in it. Box Eatery has a grilled cheese sandwich on the menu that could pair perfectly with the soup.

Jared went with another daily special, the spicy macaroni and cheese ($6) and a bowl of chicken enchilada soup ($5). The spicy macaroni and cheese had lots of thick creamy cheese and a serious kick. I really liked this dish but once I had the chicken enchilada soup, nothing else mattered. The soup had huge chunks of chicken along with a great corn taste. The soup was rich, hearty and fresh and had me thinking about getting a tub of it to go.

Overall, Box Eatery has fresh food, large portions and low prices. They also add a tiny cookie to your order, and who doesn’t like a tiny cookie? The staff seemed to care genuinely about the food they serve and the customers. Everything I tried was good, but the soup was definitely the standout, so get up here and get a bowl of soup and don’t forget the cookie.